Combined punching and cornering apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

AN AUTOMATIC PUNCHING MACHINE HAVING A SET OF PUNCHES ALONG ONE SIDE OF A PUNCHING STATION, INCLUDES A PAIR OF INDEPENDENTLY OPERABLE DIE CUTTING HEADS DETACHABLY FIXED ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PUNCHING STATION. EACH INDIVIDUAL AND SUCCESSIVE LIFT, OR STACKS, OF LIMP SHEETS ADVANCES ALONG A PATH AND HALTS AT THE PUNCHING STATION WHILE THE BINDING APERTURES ARE PUNCHED AND THE OUTER CORNERS ROUNDED, STRAIGHT CUT, NOTCHED, ETC., SUB-   STANTIALLY SIMULTANEOUSLY, AND WHILE THE SHEETS OF THE LIFT ARE CLAMPED ONTO THE TABLE AND IN REGISTRATION WITH THE BACK GAUGE.

Sept. 20, 1971 LOVE ETAL 3,605,535

COMBINED PUNCHING AND CORNERING APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed Bed. 18, 1969.2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1.

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GEORGE 0. LOVE BY EDSON H. STACY ATTORNEYS Sept. 20, 1971 LQVE ETAL3,605,535

COMBINED PUNGHING AND CORNERING APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed Dec. 18, 19692 Sheets-Sheet 2 9 Fzg. 3

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GEORGED. LOVE BY EDSON H. STACY Ftgt 40 v rm *BMM ATTORNEYS UnitedStates Patent 3,605,535 COMBINED PUNCHING AND CORNERING APPARATUS ANDMETHOD George D. Love, Saco, and Edson H. Stacy, East Baldwin,

Maine, assignors to Southworth Machine Company,

Portland, Maine Filed Dec. 18, 1969, Ser. No. 886,124 Int. Cl. B26f l/06 US. CI. 83-40 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An automaticpunching machine having a set of punches along one side of a punchingstation, includes a pair of independently operable die cutting headsdetachably fixed on the other side of the punching station. Eachindividual and successive lift, or stack, of limp sheets advances alonga path and halts at the punching station while the binding apertures arepunched and the outer corners rounded, straight out, notched, etc.,substantially simultaneously, and while the sheets of the lift areclamped onto the table and in registration with the back gauge.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The apparatus and method of the inventionrelate to the handling and treatment of sheets, especially relativelylimp paper sheets, which are to become the leaves of books, calendars,notebooks, and the like. Sheets of self-supporting material, such ascardboard, are relatively easy to feed from a magazine, individually orin lifts of ten or twenty superposed sheets, because they can be pushedfrom the rear without buckling. However, the feeding of lifts of limpsheets is more difficult, as disclosed in Us. Pat. 2,641,321 to Cruzanof June 9, 1953, wherein a fork-like pusher pushes on the trailing edgesof the lowermost lift in a bottom feed magazine to feed it onto a liftconveyor leading to a punching station.

In US. Pats. 3,215,024 and 3,327,873 to Malamood et al. of Nov. 2, 1965,and June 27, 1967, respectively, such lifts of limp sheets are fed fromthe magazine by gripping the leading edges and pulling them across thefeed path to fall on the conveyor, and the conveyor is tilted to causethe lifts to register by gravity on the back gauge. Thus the punching ofbinding apertures in lifts of sheets is generally accomplished on amanual machine, or on a separate, automatic-feed machine of the Cruzanor Malamood type, the punched lifts falling into a hopper for transferto a separate round-cornering machine.

Round-cornering also has conventionally been accomplished on a manuallyoperated, power-driven machine, for example a machine such disclosed inUS. Pat. 2,656,888 to Cruzan of Oct. 27, 1953, or US. Pat. 2,887,156 toWhitcomb of May 19, 1959. In the apparatus of these patents, there is noautomatic feed to the cutting table, and each lift must be laid thereonand registered in upstanding side and front gauges which would makehorizontal feed impossible. The cutting knives for both outer cornersare mounted on a single vertically movable beam, in these devices, asare the spring-clamping feet, so that independent control, oradjustment, of one die cutter or the other is difiicult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In this invention, the punching and corneringsteps are simultaneous, and performed on a single powerdriven machine ata single station, thereby requiring only one magazine feed, oneconveyor, one registration step, and one discharge step. A pair ofindividually operable cutting heads are mounted on a single bar forioint lateral movement to conform to the width of the sheets from theback gauge, and each head is mounted for longitudinal movement on thebar to conform to the length of the sheets. The cornering dies in eachhead include clamping mechanism, and are actuated by a fluid cylinderand plunger, which in turn are actuated by a cam which operates in timewith a cam that mechanically actuates the die punches.

Registration of each successive lift at the punching and corneringstation includes mechanism for urging the sheets into contact with theback gauge and joggers, for aligning the leading and trailing edges. Itwill be understood that if the punches then enter the sheets to form thebinding apertures, the punches temporarily serve as register pins inregister holes while the outer corners are clamped and rounded,straightcut, notched, etc., so that binding apertures and round cornersare in perfect registration for insertion in a magazine, book or cover.Signatures may also be run.

A novel threaded thrust screw arrangement permits rapid and accurateadjustment of the heads. The heads will accommodate various types andshapes of die cutting knives, and it is, of course, possible to mountthe round-cornering heads on a non-automatic feed machine if desired forsimultaneous punching and round cornering.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a plan view of an automaticpunching machine showing the punching station end thereof with theround-cornering means of the invention mounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic electrical diagram showing the control circuit ofthe invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in the drawing, 25 isan automatic punching machine similar to those shown in theabove-mentioned Malamood patents and well known in the trade. Suchmachines, with a tilted bed, or with a horizontal bed, or table, 26, asshown, are commercially available and made by Southworth Machine Co. ofPortland, Maine. A pair of laterally-spaced, longitudinally-extending,conveyor chains 27 and 28, each having upstanding lugs 29 and 30 spacedtherealong, are arranged to advance each individual and successive lift33, by engagement with the trailing edge 34 thereof, from the magazinefeed, not shown, along the longitudinal path, or paper line, 35, to thepunching station 36.

A longitudinally-extending, upstanding, back guide 37 guides the sheets38 in each lift 33, as they are advanced, and the power drive andcontrol mechanism 39 of the chain and lugs, 27, 28 and 29, 30, causeseach lift to halt at station 36 for the punching operation.

The machine 25 includes suitable leading edge, trailing edge, or sideedge joggers, 42, operable when the lift is halted at station 36, toexactly register the lift relative to the punching means 43, so that thedie punches 44 will reciprocate in a vertical path to die-cut bindingapertures, such as at 45, along the longitudinal side edge 46 of thelift just within the border, or margin, thereof. Each lift 33 mayinclude ten, twenty, or more, superposed sheets 38, usually of limp,flimpsy paper, or the like, the trailing edge being designated 34, theleading edge being designated 47, the longitudinal side edges, ridingalong the back gauge 37, being designated 46, and the opposite, or outerlongitudinal side edge, being designated 48, and the upper face of thelift being designated 49. It is the outer corners 52 and 53 of the liftswhich are to be rounded by the apparatus and method of this invention.As thus far described, the punching machine is well known.

Round-cornering means The cornering means 54 of the invention includes apair of round-cornering heads and 56, each including an air cylinder 57,a plunger 58, and a round-cornering decutter, or knife, 61, at the lowerend of the plunger. There may be a cutting stick, or plate, 60, toreceive the knife edge, or a suitable die may be used. The cuttingelements are conventional and well known, and are interchangeable aspunches, strippers, or cutting dies in a well known manner.

Preferably the round-cornering means 54 includes clamping mechanism 63,comprising a pair of clamping feet 64 and 65, each mounted to descend inadvance of the die punch 44 to clamp the longitudinal outer side edgeportion 48 of the lift against the bed 26, while the corners 52 and 53are cut. However, as noted herein, the simultaneous, or prior,immobilization of the lift, when the punch dies occupy the bindingapertures, makes horizontal shift of the already registered liftvirtually impossible, and assures that the edges of the sheets remain inalignment during round-cornering.

A front angle guide 66 is provided along the outer side of punchingstation 36, and between the longitudinallyspaced cornering heads 55 and56, guide 66 having a pair of oppositely disposed spring leaves of metal67 and 68, for urging the sheets 38 in the lift 33 toward the back gauge37.

Each round-cornering head 55 and 56 is independently adjustablelongitudinally from the other, the two heads being each mounted on asingle flat bar 71 by three bolts 72, 73 and 74, slidable inlongitudinal slots 75 and 76 in the bar 71. Each head is connected byfirst threaded thrust screw means 77 to second threaded thrust screwmeans 78, the latter being fast to the bed 26.

To adjust the heads longitudinally, bolts 72, 73 and 74 are loosened,lock-nut 81 on threaded thrust rod 82 is loosened and adjusting nut 83is turned to move the head in the slots on the bar relative to the fixedlug 84 on the bar.

To adjust the heads laterally, the lock-nut 85 on thrust rod 86 isloosened and the T screw 87 is also loosened in lateral slot 88. Theadjusting nut 89 is then turned to move the bar to the desired width ofpaper sheet.

A coarse lateral adjustment is obtained by loosening the four screws 91and moving the bar 71 to the desired approximate location.

The power drive mechanism 92 of the invention includes a double actingsolenoid 93 in each head for controlling the cylinder and plunger, alsoa first limit switch 94 in the path of the cam 96 of power drive 39 ofchain and lugs 27, 28, 29 and 30, for driving the plunger 58 and knife59 downwardly, following the punch dies 44, also a second limit switch98 in the path of the lever 59 at the end of its stroke to cause theplunger 58 to retract.

A cam 95 which actuates the punches is fast on the shaft to which cam 96is fast. Thus the cam 95 actuates the punches and the cam 96 closesswitch 94 to actuate both punch and cornering knives in the desiredsequence, or simultaneously, thereby energizing solenoid valve 93 toopen and admit air to cylinder 57 to drive the knife 61 downwardly. Atthe end of the stroke, switch 98 energizes solenoid valve 93 to admitair on the other side of the head 98 of plunger 58 to drive it in thedirection of retraction.

The punched and round-cornered lift 33 then advances away from punchingstation 36 to discharge into a hop per, or into Suitable collatingmachine conveyor, or the like.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with an automatic punching machine of the typeadvancing individual lifts of sheets successively along a longitudinalpath, registering each successive lift in the path of punching means ata punching station on said path and actuating said punching means toform binding apertures along one longitudinal side edge of eachsuccessive lift halted at said station, the combination of:

cornering means including a pair of die cutters mounted at said punchingstation, on the opposite side of said path from said punching means, forrounding, straight-cutting or notching the corners of the sheets in eachlift halted at said punching station, and

power drive mechanism actuating the die cutters of said cornering means,said mechanism being operably controlled in synchronization with saidpunching means for cutting the corners on one side of each lift whilesaid binding apertures are being formed along the other side of saidlift.

2. A combination as specified in claim 1, wherein:

each said cornering die cutter is mounted in a separate head, fixed tosaid machine at said station,

and said cornering means includes detachable locking means on each saidhead for afiixing the same securely at selected spaced distances fromsaid punching means.

3. A combination as specified in claim 1, wherein:

said cornering means includes a longitudinally-extending bar havinglongitudinal slots therein and laterally movable in lateral slots insaid machine,

and each said cornering die cutter is mounted in a separate head,slidably adjustable to fixed positions in one of said bar slots,

whereby sheet width adjustment is obtained by moving said bar laterallyin said machine slots, and sheet length adjustment is obtained by movingsaid heads longitudinally in said bar slots.

4. A combination as specified in claim 1, wherein:

said cornering means includes a pair of heads, and said power drivemechanism includes a fluid cylinder and plunger on each said head foractuating the die cutter thereon and includes a built-in, double-actingsolenoid valve, electrically controlled by a first limit switch, saidfirst switch being operably connected to said automatic punching machinefor simultaneous cutting and punching, and a limit switch at the end ofthe cutting stroke for accomplishing retraction of said die cutter.

5. A combination as specified in claim 1, plus:

front angle guides mounted alongside said path between said pair of diecutters, said guides including thin leaf springs arranged to yieldablyand resiliently urge each successive lift at said punching station intocontact with the back gauge in the punch head of said machine.

6. A combination as specified in claim ;1, wherein:

said cornering means includes a flat bar upon which a pair of cuttingheads are mounted, each head supporting one of said die cutters,

first threaded thrust screw means on said bar for longitudinally movingsaid heads therealong to selected fixed positions, and

second threaded thrust screw means on said machine for laterally movingsaid bar therealong to a selected fixed position.

7. Automatic die cutting apparatus for simultaneously punching andcornering a lift of superposed sheets, said apparatus comprising:

a table for supporting a lift of said sheets, said table having anupstanding back gauge for registering the back edges of the sheets insaid lift,

powered punching means on said apparatus, said means including diepunches extending along the said back edge portions of said sheets forpunching binding apertures within the borders of the sheets of saidlift, and

powered cornering means on said apparatus, said means including a pairof die cutters, spaced apart along the front edges of the sheets in saidlift, for round-cutting, straight-cutting, or notching the cornersthereof;

each said cornering means including clamping mechanism for clamping saidlift to said table prior to cornering,

a pair of independently actuatable, power drive means, on saidapparatus, each for actuating one of said cornering means, and theclamping mechanism thereof, and

control means operably connecting said power drive means with saidpunching means for actuation thereof in predetermined synchronization.

8. The method of cutting the outer corners of lifts of superposedsheets, said method comprising the steps of:

advancing a plurality of lifts of said sheets, individually andsuccessively, along a longitudinally path, and halting each successivelift at a die-cutting station;

registering each said lift while halted at said station and punchingbinding apertures through the so registered and halted sheets along onelongitudinal edge portion thereof,

and while each said lift is registered, halted and engaged by thepunches in said apertures, clamping said lift along the oppositelongitudinal edge portion and die-cutting the outer corners on thesheets of said lift into round corners, straight cuts, or notches.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS JAMES M. MEISTER, PrimaryExaminer US. Cl. X.R.

